Vikings stadium: Team kicks in more cash to keep features of design

Faced with higher-than-expected project bids that forced them to consider scrapping the design of the new Vikings stadium and starting over, team and public officials instead added $25 million to the construction budget Friday.

The move clears the way for site work on the downtown Minneapolis stadium to begin in earnest next week.

The Vikings agreed to raise their contribution by up to $41.4 million to hang on to stadium features they consider important for fans, team owner and president Mark Wilf said Friday in a statement.

The official groundbreaking ceremony, to which the public is invited, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 3.

That's at least six weeks later than planners originally hoped to kick off construction, and for the first time Friday, stadium officials backed off a firm completion date of July 1, 2016.

The new target is July 15, 2016, said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. That will still allow plenty of time for the team to prepare for the 2016 season, she said.

Technically, $975 million is still the project's cost, and the public contribution of $348 million from the state and $150 million from Minneapolis remains the same.

What's changed is that on top of their $477 million portion, the Vikings are putting up a total of $26.4 million in contingency money. (They had previously put up $13.1 million.) Theoretically, they could get some of that back if costs come in lower, but that's not happening at the moment, so in effect the working budget now tops $1 billion and their part is more than $500 million.

In addition, the team has agreed to eat $15 million in lost revenue from having to play two seasons at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium and is shifting that money into the construction fund. That $15 million was included in the $975 million total budget.

Members of the authority approved a guaranteed maximum price of $762.9 million for the project Friday. The earlier figure had been $737.8 million. Construction manager Mortenson Construction now assumes responsibility for any costs over the $762.9 million figure, Kelm-Helgen said.

STADIUM FINANCING

The Vikings were planning to close on their private financing for the stadium Friday as well. Team officials have said that to contribute $477 million they actually have to put together about $550 million.

The Vikings have arranged a $250 million loan through lead lenders U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs, $100 million of which is backed by revenue from the sale of personal seat licenses, which fans have to purchase to be able to secure a season ticket.

They are also getting a $200 million loan from the NFL, and the team owners have pledged to put in an additional $100 million from their personal resources.

State budget officials plan to sell the $498 million in public bonds for the project in January.

The additional Vikings contribution, plus authority and construction manager contingency money, means stadium planners were able to avoid having to scrap distinctive elements of the planned stadium, Kelm-Helgen said.

Officials had gone as far as they could squeezing savings out of things like interior finishes, Kelm-Helgen said, and they were facing either doing a major redesign -- which would have delayed the project a year -- or cutting iconic features like the giant pivoting doors.

"You do come to that point where there's just no more to be had as you look around the edges," she said.

Lester Bagley, the Vikings' vice president of public affairs and stadium development, said: "We wanted to keep the basic design and the fan amenities, and we're not interested in cutting the building."

Those amenities include technological features such as scoreboards, ribbon boards and high-definition TV screens so fans can watch the game while they're away from their seats, Bagley said.

GROUNDBREAKING

Details on the Dec. 3 groundbreaking ceremony have not been finalized.

The budget approved last month lists $50,000 under "Ground Breaking Ceremony," but officials said some of that money was already used on the stadium design unveiling event and some will be used when the building opens in 2016. The budget for the Dec. 3 ceremony has not been set.

Gov. Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak are planning to attend, according to members of their staff. A staffer for incoming Minneapolis mayor and current city council member Betsy Hodges, who voted against the stadium when it was before the council, said Hodges is holding the date open but hasn't decided whether to attend.

But in advance of the official ceremony, Friday's vote means site work can really get going.

John Wood, Mortenson Construction senior vice president, said fencing will start going up on the east side of the Metrodome on Monday and equipment will start rolling in.

The last regular season Vikings game in the Metrodome is scheduled for Dec. 29. Demolition will start in mid-January and take about three months, Wood said. The roof will be one of the first things taken down.

The tear-down will start in the northeast corner of the Dome and move counter-clockwise, Wood said, with construction following the same pattern. "As demolition is proceeding, we'll be following right behind it with excavation and with foundation construction," he said.

"There will be a lot of activity, a lot of heavy equipment, cranes, drill rigs out here that will be showing up within the first 30 days of construction," Wood said.

Either Friday or Monday, builders were to place a critical order for steel for the new roof, Wood said.